Toyota president Akio Toyoda is next up in the heated congressional hearing over whether the Japanese automaker did enough to ensure customer safety in its race to become the world's top car company. Toyoda's testimony comes one day after the company's COO and president of U.S. motor sales, Jim Lentz, said the company may not be doing enough to fix the defects.

Take That, Big Tobacco

By Laura FitzpatrickWednesday, Feb. 24, 2010

John Duricka / AP

In 1994, seven Big Tobacco executives defended their deadly wares before a congressional health subcommittee, most infamously raising their right hands and swearing that nicotine was not addictive. The panel, led by Representative Henry Waxman, was having none of it: for six hours  all televised  members interrupted the witnesses in midsentence, ridiculed their testimony and all but accused them of lying. One exec insisted that cigarettes were no more addictive than coffee, tea or Twinkies. "The difference between cigarettes and Twinkies," Waxman shot back, "is death." It's pretty hard to work up a comeback to that zinger.